Dave Bautista confirms he won't star as Drax after 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Dave Bautista. Photo/AFP

Hollywood actor Dave Bautista, who has played an alien criminal-turned-superhero Drax in four Marvel films, including the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' franchise, recently confirmed that he won't be essaying the character after 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'. According to Fox News, the 52-year-old wrestler-turned-actor, during an appearance on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' on Monday, confirmed the news of his final appearance as the character.

"James Gunn has already announced that it's his last Marvel film and when James is done, I'm done," said Bautista, pointing out that the franchise was always meant to be a trilogy. The actor had previously advocated for Gunn to be reinstated as the director of the movie after he was fired in response to insensitive tweets from his past resurfacing. Bautista, along with his co-stars who also pulled for the reinstatement, were successful and Gunn was invited to take the helm for the third film.

Speaking about his age Bautista admitted, "I'm also going to be 54 years old by the time 'Guardians 3' comes out and the shirtless thing is getting harder and harder for me. The journey has come full circle and I'm ready to kind of step aside and wrap it up."

Bautista's character, Drax, is exclusively shirtless in most, if not all, of his scenes. The character is a blue-skinned alien with red markings on his chest, stomach, face, and arms.

The former wrestler had quickly become a fan favourite in 2014 when he played Drax the Destroyer in the massively popular Marvel film alongside Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and more. His popularity continued to rise with the franchise's second installment, as well as crossover films 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Avengers: Endgame'. While 'Guardians 3' will be his final time working as Drax, Bautista has a few more projects as the character on the horizon. He will appear in the Gunn-directed 'Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special' in 2022 and has all but confirmed that he filmed scenes for 'Thor: Love and Thunder' in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Not long after bursting onto the scene, he appeared in a number of high-profile flicks like 'Spectre', 'Hotel Artemis' and, most recently, Netflix's 'Army of the Dead'. As per Fox News, Bautista's hot streak will continue beyond Marvel, as he is also set to appear in 'Dune' and the highly-anticipated 'Knives Out' sequel with Daniel Craig, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Janelle Monae and Edward Norton.

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